Kikilu Gelato — Restaurant in Hoboken

My recent experience as a paying customer, especially on Halloween, was highly disappointing. Each year, I bring my kids to Hoboken for trick-or-treating, and they always have a great time. Unfortunately, this year was different, primarily due to the behavior of the owner of Kikilu Gelato, who disrupted our Halloween experience.

As we approached 9th and Garden St., we noticed Kikilu Gelato giving out free samples. After seeing a long line, we decided to stop by on our way back. One of my sons tried a sample and didn’t enjoy that particular flavor, so we went inside to buy gelato for the kids, as we were a group of 13. Everyone enjoyed their gelato, and I even rated it a 5 for taste.

However, the service was rated a 1 due to how the owner treated my son. When he approached her and politely said, “trick or treat,” as she handed out candy to other patrons, her response was both unprofessional and unkind. She replied, “Oh my god, what the hell, you guys have been here three times: gelato, gelato, and now candy,” and then handed him one piece, while giving the children before him a handful.

When confronted about her behavior, the owner denied it and continued with unprofessional remarks that I won’t detail here. As someone who has worked in hospitality since I was 17 and managed businesses myself, I understand the importance of treating everyone, especially children, with kindness and respect. Her behavior was disappointing and put a damper on our Halloween.

I will not be returning to this establishment due to the way the owner treats customers, particularly children. The owner’s behavior clearly demonstrated a lack of regard for those who support her business. Such treatment is unacceptable, and she should be...

I’m writing this 4 start review for the service I received the other day which was 1 star at that. Went in with my 2 children, waited at the door as it hadn’t opened yet and we were the second customers of the day. Greeted without a smile and with an unwelcome attitude by a young worker. Seemed like we were an inconvenience. Asked to try 2 flavors, before she even handed me the second, she commented that it was only 2 per customer. We were 3 people mind you and I wasn’t going to ask for more but I guess we had reached our limit. We sat inside. No napkins in sight. I asked the same girl for napkins and she handed me 2 (of those seethrough tissue paper napkins) for 1 adult and 2 small children. We were the only ones in there.

Used the restroom to wash our hands as we had no napkins. Before we left we went to use the restroom and it was locked. I asked if it was in use and the same young woman just responded that they keep it locked because they don’t like many people using it. What kind of answer and attitude is that? Again, we were the second customers and no one else was in there.

When we went to leave I commented to the young woman that we loved the establishment and come in often but during this experience we felt very uncomfortable and unwelcome. Customer service is everything for small businesses. Please be more considerate in the future.

Would usually give this place 5+ stars as we love their gelato and visiting. Just not this...

Update: been a regular customer but very disappointed in how stingy they are while letting you try flavors. They use a very flat spoon and give you so little (in fact the person went out of his way every time to scrape off anything that goes higher than the edge of the flat spoon) that you could barely taste the flavor. I’ve never been to an ice cream place like this. That said, the ice cream is still good. Just can’t believe they’re so stingy. The owner’s always at the cashier so she very likely knows.

They have a variety of cute little desserts now too. Also they have one scoop available now.

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Very creamy just like gelato in Italy. The olive oil flavor is surprisingly good and my hubby likes the pistachio flavor even though he doesn’t usually have pistachio ice cream.

It’s a shame they don’t serve single scoop. Not sure why but hope owner changes her mind.

Portion is small and therefore is pricy. But that also means lower calories I guess 🤣 hopefully they keep up the good quality and make some...